The National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC) is a project of the Foundation for Louisiana that advocates for critical race theory-influenced maternity healthcare policies. It argues that Black women have higher rates of maternity complications due to racism and that enacting policies that help increase the income of Black women would remedy them. ^{1 2}

NBEC uses the identity politics concept of intersectionality in its policy advocacy. It claims public policies should differentiate how individuals of different ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, gender identities, and other groups should be addressed to achieve specified outcomes for different groups. ³

Background

The National Birth Equity Collaborative is a project of the nonprofit Foundation for Louisiana that was founded in 2015 to advocate for maternity healthcare policies that are favorable to Black women. ⁴

NBEC claims that race is a social construct that “is not biologically significant” and that Black Americans are specifically targeted by racial bias, resulting in poor health outcomes. It advocates for “racial equity” policies that address race issues by undoing alleged “intergenerational and cumulative” outcomes of racism, including poverty and other contributors to poor health. ⁵

Advocacy

In June 2021, the National Birth Equity Collaborative published a report with the National Partnership for Women and Families, including a ten-part series associating socioeconomic factors with maternity outcomes and using critical race theory to explain lower outcomes for Black women. ⁶ The report states that it was created to convince policymakers to affirm that racism had resulted in lower socioeconomic outcomes for Black people, causing Black women to have worse maternity and infant-health outcomes. As a result, it advocates for policies requiring paid maternity leave and subsidized housing as ways to improve maternity outcomes. The report also condemns “over-policing” and incarceration of Black individuals as well as insufficient public funding for substance abuse programs as policies that contribute to lower maternity and infant outcomes for Black people. ⁷

In April 2023, NBEC hosted a webinar with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, and the Black Mamas Matter Alliance to advocate for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act. ⁸ The PWFA requires employers to provide accommodations to pregnant and nursing mothers to the extent that they do not cause “significant expense or difficulty for the employer.” Accommodations under PWFA can include flexible hours, additional break time, and time off. ⁹ NBEC Policy Director Megan Simmons argued that such policies are necessary because otherwise Black mothers are allegedly discriminated against as they can lose wages during maternity. ¹⁰

Leadership

Joia Crear-Perry is the founder and president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative. She is an OB-GYN doctor who previously worked as the director of women and children’s services at the Jefferson Community Healthcare Center and as director of clinical services for the City of New Orleans Health Department. Crear-Perry was also regional vice chair of the National Medical Association from 2012 to 2018 and executive director of Birthing Project USA from 2014 to 2015. ^{11 12}

1. “Equipping Working Black Mothers to Exercise Their Rights Under New Federal Workplace Protections.” A Better Balance, April 25, 2023. https://www.abetterbalance.org/.
2. “National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC): General Operating Support.” Commonwealth Fund, October 23, 2021. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/grants/national-birth-equity-collaborative-nbec-general-operating-support.
3. Crear-Perry, Joia, and Sinsi HERNÁNDEZ-CANCIO. “SAVING THE LIVES OF MOMS AND BABIES.” National Partnership for Women & Families, February 2023. https://nationalpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/saving-the-lives-of-moms-and.pdf.
4. “National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC): General Operating Support.” Commonwealth Fund, October 23, 2021. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/grants/national-birth-equity-collaborative-nbec-general-operating-support.
5. Crear-Perry, Joia. “Systems and Policies Driving Black Maternal Health.” New York: National Birth Equity Collaborative, 2018. https://media.nyam.org/filer_public/92/4a/924a48f9-78bb-4bfe-8b4d-a6f87c88c062/joia_crear-perry_slides_pdf.pdf.
6. “Saving the Lives of Moms & Babies.” National Partnership for Women & Families, March 6, 2024. https://nationalpartnership.org/report/moms-and-babies/.
7. Crear-Perry, Joia, and Sinsi HERNÁNDEZ-CANCIO. “SAVING THE LIVES OF MOMS AND BABIES.” National Partnership for Women & Families, February 2023. https://nationalpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/saving-the-lives-of-moms-and.pdf.
8. “Equipping Working Black Mothers to Exercise Their Rights Under New Federal Workplace Protections.” A Better Balance, April 25, 2023. https://www.abetterbalance.org/.
9. “What You Should Know about the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Accessed March 9, 2024. https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/what-you-should-know-about-pregnant-workers-fairness-act.
10. “Equipping Working Black Mothers to Exercise Their Rights Under New Federal Workplace Protections.” A Better Balance, April 25, 2023. https://www.abetterbalance.org/.
11. Katreva, Maggie. “National Birth Equity Collaborative.” LÍLLÉbaby, July 7, 2020. https://www.lillebaby.com/blogs/news/national-birth-equity-collaborative.
12. “Joia Crear-Perry, MD.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 10, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joia-crear-perry-md-0354666.